Prenuptial Agreements are a great way of protecting your separate property, as well as appreciation on that property, and a great way of converting what could be otherwise considered marital property, into your own …not to be shared…property. But let’s get real here. Often people get married when they are young and they have nothing to protect yet! So in those marriages it is unlikely that the happy, young, broke couple will bother with a prenuptial agreement (also known as an antenuptial agreement, or just “Prenup”).
Enter the Bezos (Amazon CEO) divorce. Is there a prenup? Since they were young when they got married, certainly not as wealthy as they ended up, and 25 years has now passed, It is unlikely that there is a prenuptial agreement, if statistics rule. That said, Mrs. Bezos stands to obtain up to 50% of the entire marital estate. Recently, someone suggested that this is unfair with the standard claim that, “he did the work; therefore, he should have the money or the bulk of the money.”
But, that’s not how it works. Whether Mrs. Bezos was a stay at home mom, who was a miserable housekeeper, and a failure as a mother, or whether she was integral in the creation of the business and a stellar mom…the determination of division of wealth is not subjective. She was the wife. She spent 25 years in the marriage (can you spell Spousal Support/Alimony? Normally she would get this, but in this case it will be unlikely due to the $65 Billion she is expected to obtain, in cash, real estate, stock, etc.); She gets an equitable portion of the estate (remember…. A PRENUPTIAL AGREEMENT COULD HAVE ASSISTED Mr. Bezos here). Equitable typically means 50%.
By the way, does Mrs. Bezos get more than 50% because if her husband may have been having an affair? In many cases, where there has been money spent on the affair, the victim-spouse may get more based on financial misconduct….but in this case, the court may feel that $65 Billion is enough!
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